Nanometer-Resolution Imaging of Living Cells Using Soft X-ray Contact Microscopy

Featured Application Soft X-ray contact microscopy (SXCM) is a technique for imaging intact, living cells with nanometer resolution. The development of this technique involved a table-top microscope, providing easy access to this technique for biologists. This review presents the applications, troubleshooting, current progress, and putative directions of SXCM. Soft X-ray microscopy is a powerful technique for imaging cells with nanometer resolution in their native state without chemical fixation, staining, or sectioning. The studies performed in several laboratories have demonstrated the potential of applying this technique for imaging the internal structures of intact cells. However, it is currently used mainly on synchrotrons with restricted access. Moreover, the operation of these instruments and the associated sample-preparation protocols require interdisciplinary and highly specialized personnel, limiting their wide application in practice. This is why soft X-ray microscopy is not commonly used in biological laboratories as an imaging tool. Thus, a laboratory-based and user-friendly soft X-ray contact microscope would facilitate the work of biologists. A compact, desk-top laboratory setup for soft X-ray contact microscopy (SXCM) based on a laser-plasma soft X-ray source, which can be used in any biological laboratory, together with several applications for biological imaging, are described. Moreover, the perspectives of the correlation of SXCM with other super-resolution imaging techniques based on the current literature are discussed.

Automated summary

Soft X-ray contact microscopy (SXCM) is a technique that allows imaging of intact, living cells with nanometer resolution. Currently, it is mainly used on synchrotrons with restricted access, limiting its practical application. A compact, desk-top SXCM laboratory setup would facilitate the work of biologists.